For this survey we are collecting opinions from people 18 years of age or older. Your responses will remain anonymous and confidential. In appreciation for completing this survey, you will be entered in to a draw to receive a $100 Visa Gift Card.

Travel Manitoba helps Grey Cup #ExploreMB

When the trophy is finally hoisted by the winning team on Sunday, November 29 at the 103rd Grey Cup Championship, it will mark the end of the cup’s whirlwind journey through Manitoba. In an effort to promote the Grey Cup Festival – the range of activities and entertainment that go along with the big game – Travel Manitoba teamed up with the Winnipeg Free Press, VIA Rail and several industry operators to award a trip to Churchill.

Contest winner, Marge Avent and her husband Ted joined the Grey Cup, its handler Dennis Dowell, Winnipeg Blue Bomber alumni Doug Brown and Brett MacNeil, Winnipeg Free Press writer Jeff Hamilton, and Michel LaRivière from Travel Manitoba on a tour of 11 cities, town, and communities along the VIA Rail route from Winnipeg to Churchill and back again.

“We were excited and thankful to be chosen to join the northern trip to Churchill to see the polar bears,” said Marge Avent, who along with her husband Ted, is an avid Blue Bomber fan.

"This has been on my bucket list for a long time but to be able do it with the Grey Cup? Wow," Ted said in one of the stories published in the Winnipeg Free Press. The Avents joined the Grey Cup on a helicopter ride to a polar bear den in the northern wilderness after getting to see the polar bears up close.

The Cup’s northern tour not only created publicity surrounding the Grey Cup and its festivities, it also included more Manitobans into the Grey Cup celebration.

“Hosting the Grey Cup is a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” said Jason Smith, President of the 103rd Grey Cup Festival in a release. “Although Winnipeg will be hosting the Grey Cup Championship Game on November 29, we want the whole province to participate in the Grey Cup excitement. We are connecting with thousands of rural and northern Manitobans to make sure they can also enjoy the Grey Cup spirit.”

Fans were invited to come see the Grey Cup and meet the Blue Bomber alumni at community-hosted events in each location, including The Pas, Flin Flon, Snow Lake and Thompson. In addition to the photo opportunities, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities provided sporting equipment, new uniforms, and supported the costs of coaching staff to local sporting groups.